Pro Bono Publico

Abstract

The dynamics of classroom authority are not always simple. Students come to school to increase their knowledge, and teachers presumably know more about their subject than do their students, but learning is not exclusively a one-way downward flow of information. Teachers learn from students and students often learn best when teachers do not exert their authority, at least in the conventional sense. Instructors who provoke thinking encourage students to encounter their own moments of illumination. This article presents the idea that learning through active resistance makes the information that students discover more valuable to them. Examples from the author's own classroom experiences are provided.     

When Intuition Beats Logic: Prospective Teachers’ Awareness of their <Emphasis Type="Italic">Same Sides – Same Angles</Emphasis> Solutions

This paper indicates that prospective teachers’ familiarity with theoretical models of students’ ways of thinking may contribute to their mathematical subject matter knowledge. This study introduces the intuitive rules theory to address the intuitive, same sides-same angles solutions that prospective teachers of secondary school mathematics come up with, and the proficiency they acquired during the course “Psychological aspects of mathematics education”. The paper illustrates how drawing participants’ attention to their own erroneous applications of same sides-same angles ideas to hexagons, challenged and developed their mathematical knowledge.     

PREFACE

Abstract

Critical thinking about moral decisions considers the consequences of options for the achievement of people's goals. Attempts to think critically lead to error and bias, so intuitive rules are needed to guard against these errors and to save time. Intuitive rules, however, lead to errors and biases of their own. I propose that students be taught to approximate critical thinking itself and that they learn rules of thumb to guard against its pitfalls. In particular, students need to learn certain powerful devices of consequentialist reasoning, such as consideration of precedent setting and of the possibility of error in thinking itself. They also need to learn about the common biases of thinking, especially the bias to favour what one already believes, or what is nearby in time and space.     

Is the University on the Way to Becoming a Specialized School?

In his rector's address of October 15, 1874, Theodor Mommsen said to the students:

There is no formal law that prescribes for you how you must utilize your academic years; there is no intermediate examination to inquire into whether this use has taken place at all and, if so, in what way. No nation in the world places as much confidence in its youth as ours; and our academic youth has up to now justified that confidence. Go now your own way onward, even though this way may often lead into the thicket and you may well think that it is a wrong way; more often than we have dared to hope, it has been found that many ways can lead to the same, and the correct, goal. For every real man of unique qualities his own way is the best way for him; and that way is open to each of you. (1)     

探究性学习与创新教育

探究性学习是开放性活动的课题,是培养创新型人才的有效途径,就如何在课堂中通过引导学生创造性发现问题,让学生通过活动、探索、独立思考并运用已有知识自主解决问题,从而培养学生创新能力发表拙见。     

Should teachers be taught to be rational?1

Programs of teacher education have tried often to make teachers follow a priori models of the rationality. These models fit poorly with the way teachers actually think. Rather than concluding that even more teacher training is required, recent research on teacher thinking has tried to uncover the rationality underlying teachers’ practice. The temptation to demand conformity with the new models of rationality uncovered should be resisted. Instead, research on teacher thinking should be used to make teachers aware of possible modes of thought, to give teacher educators a sense of how their students may change, and to give in‐service educators an idea of how their students may view instruction.

     

Assessing the Quality of University Teaching in Croatia

Abstract

Although there has been a growing literature which explores the thinking of teachers at the school level, no such parallel literature exists for university teachers. In this paper, interviews with four academics who received awards for ‘excellent teaching’ are used to explore the way these university teachers view their teaching. The themes which emerged include: a clear sense of what they were on about at teachers and a willingness to manipulate the learning environment accordingly; an emphasis on student learning and the importance of students learning the subject matter; an enjoyment of teaching; and a lack of perceived constraints to change their teaching and experiment with new ideas.     

外国文学中的动态学习空间

动态学习是在动态环境下,学生以动态的思维方式去发现、组合、交流、创造动态信息,从而理解知识发现规律,构建自身动态知识体系,形成动态思维结构的学习方式。这种学习方式可完全体现学生学习的主动性、动力支配性和策略性等认知特征和情感特征,所以对拓展、培养学生们的学习思维、潜在技能、独立能动性、综合协调性都有巨大的帮助。本文将从学生的表现力来探讨：外国文学为学生们创造的动态学习空间。     

浅谈板书设计之“妙法”及与教学结合之意义

随着时代的发展进步,英语板书似乎变成了大家遗忘的角落,然而这种能力却非常值得提升。平常一谈起板书,都认为是语文老师的事,这种观点是片面的。好的板书应当是引人入胜的艺术品,无论对于学生还是老师,它不但能给人以美感、陶冶感情、增长兴趣,而且可以影响学生良好的书写习惯的养成;既利于传授知识、丰富课堂,又能发展学生的智力。     

Rational engagement buffers the effect of conservatism on one's reported relevance of the theory of evolution

Previous research has noted one's knowledge of and attitudes toward the theory of evolution is negatively predicted by one's political ideology, specifically how conservative the individual identifies, and positively predicted by one's level rational thinking. The present research expands on this past research by examining the roles of political conservatism and rational thinking in predicting one's reported relevance of evolutionary theory in a multi-study design. In Study 1, a sample of undergraduate college students (N = 198) completed a survey with measures of conservatism, rational and intuitive thinking styles, including both engagement and ability, and attitudes toward the relevance of evolutionary theory. A multiple mediator model revealed that conservatism was a negative predictor rational engagement, rational engagement was a positive predictor of relevance of evolution, and the indirect effect of conservatism on relevance of evolution through rational engagement was significant. In Study 2, a new sample of college students (N = 146) completed an experiment where rational engagement was manipulated. Conservatism negatively predicted relevance of evolution for individuals who were not primed to engage in rational thought and were below average in rational ability. Conversely, conservatism was not a significant predictor of relevance of evolution for individuals who were primed to engage in rational thought, and who had below average rational ability scores. These results suggest that when individuals are lower in rational ability, priming for rational engagement may be effective at buffering the effect of conservatism on one's reported relevance of evolution. Thus, examining additional procedures for increasing one's rational engagement may be useful for educators and researchers interested in reducing the effects of political ideology on one's knowledge of and attitudes toward evolution.     

Not by the hair of your chinny chin‐chin,I'm not so sure that we're letting you in

Abstract

It's no good telling people what you want if what you want is for them to know without your telling them.(Tannen, 1986, p.57)

Deborah Tannen cites conversations between men and women to explore how metamessages (rapport, directness/indirectness, connectedness/avoidance) in communication impact our relationships for the better and often for worse. In many ways, this dance of communication plays out in the female mentorship of males in early childhood preservice experiences. The metamessages of females impact their effectiveness in mentorship and impacts how males look upon their career choice and their own sense of efficacy to carry out their roles as early childhood educators.

Gender bias subtly weaves its ways into the fabric of professional ethos of educational practice. The female ethos in early childhood education often acts as a finely woven screen that makes it difficult for men to open the door to try out,let alone enter the profession. The invisible questioning screens of Do males care, notice detail, do they clearly see children's needs, do they understand the female way?need to be explored so that supportive mentorship can be consciously extended to male preservice educators. This article tells the stories of two male preservice educators and their struggles to open the door of the female ethos in their clinical experiences. Their stories point to the idea that we still have a long way to go to support males in their initial journey to become early childhood educators. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.     

Including Inquiry-Based Learning in a Flipped Class

Abstract

Flipped classrooms and inquiry-based learning (IBL) have each become popular in their own right, leading to a natural question: Why not combine these two great ideas? Although flipping a class usually involves students reading or watching videos before class, and IBL focuses on allowing and encouraging students to develop material on their own, both styles emphasize active learning and critical thinking through activities such as group work and presentations while minimizing lectures. In this article, I discuss ways that the two teaching styles can complement each other and be implemented concurrently, with some examples from my flipped calculus II course. Throughout this discussion the focus remains on ways to keep students engaged and how to instill deep content knowledge.     

USING COMPUTER CONFERENCING IN TEACHING

For 3years, I have been teaching neuroscience courses by using computer conferencing to complement the traditional lectures. Typically, the conferencing involved local, on‐campus students, although one semester the class was combined from on‐campus and off‐campus students. For most of my 33‐year teaching career, I had used the teaching approach that most professors use, which is what educational theorists call “instructivist.” Critics call that “stand and deliver.” Lecturing is an efficient way to dispense organized information, but it does not ensure learning nor is it very effective in showing students how to learn on their own.

Instructivism can be enriched by complementing it with “constructivist” approaches. Constructivists argue that there is a direct relationship between the amount of learning that occurs and the extent to which the environment provides a rich source of engaging experiences in which students construct their own knowledge and understanding. I have found that such an environment is readily provided by computer conferencing.

In my teaching of neuroscience, I have used a network software system (FORUM) for small student groups to conduct a variety of constructivist learning activities. Within weekly deadlines, students worked in groups at their own pace and time of convenience. My impression of the advantages of such conferencing for constructivist activities include the promotion of socialization in “cyberspace,” providing an environment for team learning, the reduction of social problems in face‐to‐face instruction, increased teaching and learning efficiency, more comprehensive means for assessing student learning, and improved quality of student work.     

Cognitive conflict and intuitive rules

This paper is a part of an extensive project on the role of intuitive rules in science and mathematics education. First, we described the effects of two intuitive rules ‐‐ ‘Everything comes to an end’ and ‘Everything can be divided’ ‐‐ on seventh to twelfth grade students’ responses to successive division tasks related to mathematical and physical objects. Then, we studied the effect of an intervention, which provided students with two contradictory statements, one in line with students’ intuitive response, the other contradicting it, on their responses to various successive division tasks. It was found that this conflict‐based intervention did not improve students’ ability to differentiate between successive division processes related to mathematical objects and those related to material ones. These results reconfirmed that intuitive rules are stable and resistant to change. Finally, this paper raised the need for additional research related to the relationship between intuitive rules and formal knowledge.     

项目模仿法在中职《Visual FoxPro6.0程序设计》教学中的实施

根据《Visual FoxPro6.0程序设计》教材的特点,针对当前中职学生基础知识差、文化水平差异大、思想波动不定等现状,在VFP教学中采用项目模仿法进行教学,以激发学生学习兴趣,能热情投入学习中,使学生通过模仿去把握哪些暗含的知识,进而形成自己对概念的认识,最终达到能使学生在模仿中创新的教学目的。     

机械制图中相贯线的教学探索

通过分析学生在学习相贯线部分内容时存在的一些普遍现象,提出了相贯线教学的一些新方法,本文尝试转变教育观念,整合相贯线教学内容,改善教学方式和优化教学手段,对改革相贯线教学、提高教学质量做了一些有益的探索．     

Criticality's affective entanglements: rethinking emotion and critical thinking in higher education

ABSTRACT

Critical thinking is often understood as a set of tangible, transferrable and measurable skills and competencies. Yet, it is also an intensely affective experience that is complex, contingent and contextualised. Using interview, focus group and observation data conducted with 15 first-year undergraduate social science students at a UK research-intensive university, this paper explores how students negotiate the complex knowledge practices that constitute critical thinking, particularly the affects of being and becoming critical. The theoretical tools offered by Karen Barad and Sara Ahmed allow a conceptualisation of critical thinking as a complex phenomenon of socio-material and affective practices. This paper turns to Barad and Ahmed to explore the potential of their clashing theorisations for thinking through the affective territories of critical thinking. It will argue that acknowledging the way(s) critical thinking feels (as well as what it is and what it is for) opens up new imaginaries for feminist scholarship about criticality.     

Doing it the Community College Way: Community College-Specific Programming

ABSTRACT

Community colleges are often boxed into university models despite the unique nature of their institutional missions and student populations. We believe community colleges need to develop their own models, rooted in their distinctive missions, to encourage student success. We illustrate this through our experience with a short-term research assistantship program. The program created a brief, but important, way to enhance the student–professor relationship and engage students in applied research practices. It also provided a resource to assist community college faculty in conducting their own, original research. We hope others will not only develop similar programs, but perhaps more importantly, that this article will spur bottom-up, creative thinking to engage time-constrained, community college students in meaningful ways.     

Ways of Saying,Ways of Seeingx Public Images of Teachers(19th‐20th Centuries)

The article is organized into three main sections:

In the first section, inspired by the work of Martin Jay, I try to show the denigration of vision in historical thinking, suggesting that images are demanding new theoretical and methodological approaches susceptible of elucidation in their own terms.

In the second section, I attempt an analytical interpretation of a collection of public images of teachers, dating from the second half of the nineteenth century, in order to show the heuristic potential of this material in the historical treatment of educational matters. Finally in the third section, I outline some trends of historiographical renewal, giving attention to the way images can help to reshape the remembering‐imagining and the space‐time relationships in the History of Education field.